Wild Turtle-Duck Chase
by orangeglowsticks
Summary: When Zuko first captures the Avatar in the south pole he gets away. But Sokka injures his leg and is left behind. Can Sokka keep himself and the Avatar safe while captured by Zuko and on his own on a Fire nation ship? Warning: homosexual pairing, graphic sex, strong language, serious content, possible gore.
1. Try Going North

Try Going North

Zuko had not been this hopeful in a long time. After two years of searching, he finally found him, the Avatar. He knew it was a mistake to underestimate him like he did, but he still had a prize, the Water tribe peasant boy.

He couldn't believe the left him behind, the boy was probably only a year younger than Zuko, he lay on the deck of the ship with a broken leg he was quietly hissing in pain but that was it. When Zuko's crew went to him he tried to shuffle away hopelessly, throwing his boomerang at one who dodged it only for it to swing back and hit one of his other crewmember who was encased in ice, it lodged into the ice right where it should have sunk into the man's rear. The poor man glanced back where his neck was slightly lose and paled.

Zuko sighed angrily, marching up between his soldiers to meet the boy on the ground. His blue eyes glanced up at him with pure malice, his mouth in a thin line while he gripped his injured leg but otherwise he had stopped fighting. Zuko admired the peasant's spirit, he didn't beg when he realized he was defeated, instead, the boy sneered, "What are you waiting for Ponytail? Just kill me! It's not like I can do anything to stop you."

Though Zuko's scowl remained consistent he felt a slight tug of sadness in his chest. He would never hurt the boy but he couldn't let him know that. "I don't plan on killing you." The water tribe boys eyes narrow as Zuko continues, "you're going to help me find the Avatar first." He turned to the nearest guard, "take him into the interrogation room."

The water tribe boy said nothing more as two soldiers hoisted him up so he could balance on his bad leg. They started a slow pace down in the ship. Zuko's uncle came to him with a pleasant smile on his face. "well good news nephew, the avatar is just a child!"

Zuko looked around, the ship was half buried in snow, most of his crew was encased in ice while the others were slowly melting them. "Uncle, that child just did this." He vaguely gestured to the mess before him. "As soon as we are free of the snow and ice we are to follow the Avatar, quickly!" his crew merely muttered, not dating to aggravate the prince further. Zuko helped his crew, as he did not want to wait any longer than necessary. Quickly melting the snow that buried the ship.

Two of his crew members came to him and sharply bowed, "the boy is where you requested, anything further prince Zuko?"

Iroh walked up beside his nephew quickly cutting over Zuko's orders, "Have the physician look over all who were frozen, they will need to be warmed up." He smiled gently, "they all need tea and a warm blanket. Also, once he's through, have him look over our guest's leg."

The soldiers bowed and left as Zuko sighed, "Guest? He's a prisoner, what is wrong with you?"

"There is no reason to speak of him lowly Prince Zuko, people on this shit will treat him poorly if we are needlessly malicious. We must lead by example, I feel like fear and hate will not get you what you need from this boy, anyway." Iroh thoughtfully looked at the now cleared ship, "Shall we set sail? I'm ready to leave this cold place."

"We have no idea where he could have headed, he may have gone to the village again."

"I doubt that he would endanger them again."

"Well then what do you think?" Zuko grinds his teeth, "I can't exactly track a flying cow!"

"Bison nephew."

"Whatever!" Zuko felt the heat build up in his hand before quickly extinguishing it. "I'll talk to that savage little peasant." He stormed off before his uncle could speak further, not that any of his advice was helping. A guest, really? Zuko pinched his nose in frustration, this Water tribe boy was just a simple savage, he'd probably spout out everything in fear of them breaking his leg clear in half. Fear was easy, his sister loved it and used it to get everything she needed, it must work on some simple peasant.

As he came to the door of the investigation room he seen that to door sat slightly open, his heart fluttering in a panic he flung the door open thinking the boy had escaped.

He hadn't, the boy stood in a chair looking down in frustration at the ship's physician, who was currently trying to splint his leg. "Why even bother? Since when did any of you assholes care about mine or any of my villages safety before this moment? You people would have burnt my whole village to the ground, but no, got to splint my leg!" the boy slung his hands in the air, before looking to the door being roughly opened. The physician jumped, startled at the sudden noise and appearance of the angry prince.

Zuko instantly regretted barging in in a blind panic, embarrassed, he turned to the physician, "what are you just leaving the door open for so he can just run out!"

The physician flinched at the outburst and sputtered, "Prince Zuko his leg is broken, I doubt he can walk much less fight all the way to deck."

"Yea Ponytail," the boy's sarcastic tone sent licks or fury to leave am acidic taste in his mouth, his blue eyes locked into Zuko's with little regard for anything. "Ever tried swimming with a busted leg? Gonna tell you now, you'll drown, idiot." He turned back to the physician, "can you finish tightening the damn thing if you're going to do it? It's pitching like a bitch."

Zuko's eyebrow twitched as he watched the physician finish setting up the splint. Saying nothing else but bowing to Zuko he quickly left the room. Zuko shut the door behind the man and continued to the table to sit across from the boy. For the first time he got a good look at him, his complexion and eyes were so obviously Water tribe, he had his hair pulled back in a small ponytail with it shaved underneath, he was so thickly wrapped in layers that the physician had struggled to pull up the pants sleeve to put on the binding. His appearance was everything Zuko expected, his disposition was not.

The boy had a bored look, his shoulders slack and his face relaxed, he looked around the room slowly before looking at Zuko. His face shown indifference up to that point. "What?" the boy looked Zuko up and down now, "You think I know where he went?"

"I know you know where he went." He crossed his arms, glaring, "just tell me so we can get this over with."

The tribe boy rolled his eyes, "even if I know where he might go that kid has an attention span of, well, a child. He also has a flying bison. Your guess is as good as mine, buddy."

"Don't call me buddy, peasant." Zuko narrowed his eyes. "Quit playing around and tell me."

"Try going north." The boy smirked.

Zuko slammed his hands on the table, a burst of flame leaving scorch marks on the metal, "I don't have time for this!"

"And I have all the time in the world."

Zuko stood and stormed out of the room, as he slammed the door he heard the boy yell after him, "just head north buddy!" before laughing as if he had made a joke for the ages. Zuko was furious but he knew he had no power to get anything out of him. He was too cowardly to force him to speak through torture. He couldn't hurt him and he was sure the boy knew it.

He sighed, taking a moment to lean against the wall of an abandoned corridor. He wanted to kick and scream, the one thing that could fix all his problems was long gone and all he had was some pathetic peasant to guide him. One whose voice was so laden with sarcasm at every turn he could almost punch him.

"What am I going to do?" he muttered to himself.


	2. A Meal With The Peasant

_AN: Hey, so this is my first time in six years writing any fiction, so I may be a bit or a lot rusty. I'm dyslexic so I can make pretty simple mistakes even after reading over multiple times! So If you find any mistakes please point them out! You're welcome to review however you wish and if my format looks off or anything fanfiction is new to me and also pretty weird compared to DeviantArt. Thank you for reading! Also tw: Food denial in this chapter._

"Uncle, he's not helping at all."

"Why should he?"

Zuko stopped from his pacing and glanced back at his uncle, he sat drinking tea in front of some tile game. Zuko bristled at his matter-of-fact tone, "maybe because we have him prisoner and he can't do anything! He should be terrified!"

His uncle shifted, glancing up from his game, "Zuko, what will you do to have him tell you what you need? Will you beat him? Torture him? Maybe burn him into submission?" Zuko cast his eyes down to his feet, slumping slightly at the barb, "The boy knows you're not a malicious person Zuko, you will not get anywhere through your yelling or threats."

"Uncle he's the only chance I have of finding the Avatar, of restoring my honor! All I want is off of this hunk of metal and to be home." His yelling had tapered off into borderline whining before he took a deep breath and straightened, "I'll get him to help me, just set a course north."

"We can stop at the ports and ask around for leads, that boy won't go unnoticed." His uncle thoughtfully stroked his beard. "We need to stock up again on supplies anyway."

"You mean you're out of tea," Zuko grumbled, but could not argue with Iroh's logic. He went to leave the room before pausing, "What about the prisoner?"

"What of him? Just keep an eye on him and maybe you can find something you need." Iroh looked back down to his game.

Zuko, feeling that he had been dismissed left the room. Though he didn't doubt the Avatar would be sighted he also didn't doubt a number of rumors would bloat the truth. He hated listening to hearsay, it was always a fight to find what was the truth. The Prince entered his room and sat before his meditation candles, lighting them with a quick flick. He began to breathe, he knew he was supposed to clear his mind but as per usual, he was filled with thoughts. He was so full of hope, the Avatar was alive, he was real, and he was so close. Today he had simply underestimated him as a child, he should have realized that an Airbender wouldn't just be a simple thing to grab.

He'd never met one. It hadn't occurred to him that even a young boy could simply bend whenever he wanted. Earth benders were powerless on a Fire Nation ship, and water benders could just as easily be denied. The avatar had begun dancing around him. It was like trying to hold water in his hands, it would simply find anywhere to seep Avatar was slippery but there had to be a way to capture him, he'd probably only be safe to contain if he was unconscious. Perhaps tying up his legs would have helped? But he also could use his mo-

His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp tapping on the door, "Prince Zuko!" A soldier, Zuko sighed.

"What is it?" Zuko raised from his position on the floor and began to open the door.

"Sir," a swift bow, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but the prisoner, he is demanding to know when he will be fed."

Zuko quirked his eyebrow, "And why are you asking me?"

"I did not know if you wanted to withhold it from him, sir, as he is a prisoner."

Zuko hadn't thought of doing something so simple, he looked down thoughtfully, "I'll go see to it, thank you."

The man bowed and left, Zuko made his way to the room he'd left the boy. It wasn't far from his room, just a little farther in the boat, but he needed to make a stop. After a quick visit to the kitchen to speak with the cook he headed back to the interrogation room. As he got closer he heard insistent banging, soon he could make out that the Water Tribe boy was yelling, "Are you even there? I said feed me! Meat, M-E-A-T!"

Zuko opened the door, it opened inward pushing the boy against the table behind him. As he seen Zuko his face turned from surprise to a smirk, "Oh hello again Ponytail, I see we've started moving, did you take my advice?"

Zuko kept his face neutral, he was not about to let him get under his skin with such a brilliant idea to get what he wanted. "We have started to leave the south pole, you little ice block is safe now, along with your little family, unless you suggest we go back?"

Zuko seen the panic flash across his eyes for a moment before settling back into his not-so-convincing smirk. "No, no reason, you're after the Avatar, aren't you? My village is of no use to you." He swallowed.

"That's right, now if you want to keep your village from being a target of the Fire Nation you'll tell me where the Avatar is going. North, is just a bit too vague." Zuko moved around the table and sat down, gesturing for the boy to sit across.

Not having much else to do, and obviously favoring his bad leg, he sat down. He looked away from Zuko before muttering, "I'm not going to help you."

"I know your not, not without incentive." Zuko had a soft smirk which grew slightly at the boy's confusion spelled clearly across his face.

Before the little peasant could ask his next question two guards entered quickly restraining the boy's arms. Looking aggravated the boy fought the ropes around his arms, "What the fuck, you know I can't fight with my leg what's the point? This is just unnes-"

The boy stopped and sniffed the air as one of the men came in with a plate of food. It was one of Zuko's favorite plates, a hippo cow sirloin with a side of potatoes. It was a delicacy on the ship as they didn't have a lot of room to store perishable foods, but it was needed for this special occasion. As the dish was set in front of Zuko along with a knife and fork.

"Leave us," Zuko waved them out, they bowed before exiting the room and shutting the door. Zuko looked back to the now drooling Water Tribesmen, his eyes locked on the food with a glazed look in his eyes. Zuko began to slowly cut into the expertly prepared meat. "Now peasant, listen closely," He lifted the cut piece for both of them to inspect, it was just a little pink the fatty oil dripped down from it to fall on the table, and it steamed a little with the heat escaped the morsel. "You're going to tell me where the Avatar is heading, now."

The boy was currently watching another drop of grease start to ooze down of the meat, his eyes focused. His stomach could be heard even from where Zuko sat but at the mention of the Avatar he shook his head. "N-no! How could you do this to a man? Tease him with meat! Do you know how rare it is to have fresh warm steak in the south pole? I can't tell you where my friend is going, I can't be manipulated that easy you know."

The boy's whines were so tortured, he was obviously fighting very hard to keep his dignity and stay loyal. His eyes looked back to the steak with pathetic wistful eyes. Zuko had to get the truth out of him, "I see you're quite impatient, I doubt a savage like you has ever tasted such an excellent cut of meat." Zuko brought the morsel to his lips causing the boy to whimper deliciously. The Fire Prince took it into his mouth and began to slowly chew, savoring the flavor of the meat. When he looked over at the boy across the table he almost blushed, watching his mouth closely the tribesman was practically pulling on his restraints trying to get closer. His lips were partly opened as his labored breaths were slightly audible in the otherwise quiet room. Zuko fidgeted under the intense gaze before swallowing the bite and clearing his throat. "If you want some, you'll have to help me, if you don't, you'll be eating cabbage."

He cringed, "Please, just a bite, I've not eaten all day." His stomach growled again in agreement. "I don't know where he went I swear, he never said where exactly. Just, just let me have a nibble." He glanced back down to the steak licking his lips.

"There is no way you don't at least have an idea," Zuko went back to cutting the steak, picking up another bite and putting it just out of the boys reach.

"I-I saw a map in his stuff while he was asleep," the boy rushed quickly as if he was afraid to say it. He quickly shut his mouth as his eyes widened in horror of what he said.

"Good boy," Zuko felt his body warm as he got what he want, he brought the bite closer to the boy, who tentatively reach out with is tongue and licked what he could reach. His eyes watered with obvious joy as the oils and seasonings hit his tongue, licking another slow deliberate swipe across the bottom of the meat. Zuko started feeling a lot warmer all of a sudden, though the boy was looking lustfully at the food in between them it didn't take Zuko's mind much to warp the image. Zuko quickly pulled the food away from the boy's mouth rewarding him another low whimper, blue eyes slowly opened shining with need as a soft pout shaping his lips. Zuko fought to speak clearly, "Now," Clearing his throat again and straightening his back from where he had apparently leaned in, "What was on the map?"

"It was a bunch of dots, I've never done anything at sea so I don't know geography. Please, just one bite!"

Zuko thought on it, this was way farther than he expected to get, but he couldn't just give in so soon, could he? "I don't think so, just some dots on a map I don't have doesn't exactly help me." He smirked again waving the food in slow lazy circles.

"I-I..." His eyes followed with small tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "I could mark them down if I was given a map." He licked his lips again, "can I have that now?"

Perhaps a little too eagerly he pushed the fork back to the boy's mouth, his lips parted and his tongue shot out to sample the meat's juice again. He then quickly grabbed it from the fork and chewed it slowly, his unshed tears slowly falling down his face as his eyes narrowed in delight. Zuko watched his mouth perform the task as he slowly cut off another chunk, this one was slightly larger than the last, a little over a mouthful. He brought it back up for the Water Tribe boy to eat.

This time the boy tried to take a full bite but couldn't fit it all in his mouth, he hastily began pulling on the bit with his teeth, sucking off the liquid that was pooling around his lips. Zuko shifted slightly as his pants began to tighten, he had no idea why this peasant boys desperate mouth was so alluring. The prince's breath once again became labored he pulled the fork away as the boy chewed part of the morsel off and began eating it.

Zuko straightened out of his chair and took the plate out of the room despite the boy's protest. He handed it to a guard that was stationed outside of the door. He went back into the room and removed the ropes from the boy's arms, he noted how the big coat he had been wearing was now off and in the corner. Instead of looking like a puffy blue blob he was wearing a sleeveless shirt revealing dark skin that was stretched over lean hard muscle. He untied him quickly and stepped back as if the boy could burn him. The blue eyes were now meeting him with both anger and desperation. "There's no way that's all your going to feed me! I gave you what you wanted!"

Zuko's eyes narrowed as his head cleared and his goal was again in sight. "You were rewarded for your information, you'll have jerky sent down here to feed you. You should be glad peasant, some in the Fire Nation wouldn't feed their prisoners even that. I'll be bringing a map back in here for you to direct us shortly."

He began to leave the room when he heard the boy mutter something under his breath, "What was that?" Zuko turned back to see the back of his shaven head.

"My names Sokka, if you're going to degrade me at least know my name." He sounded angry, but also defeated. Zuko said nothing as he left the room.


End file.
